Jones expects Hatters to be fresh for Fleetwood visit

Hatters boss Nathan Jones is confident his squad won’t be feeling any ill effects of having to play on Sunday and Wednesday this week when they entertain Fleetwood Town this afternoon.

After beating Bury 1-0 in the FA Cup at the weekend, the Town chief made 11 changes in midweek during their Checkatrade Trophy exit to Southend United, with only James Justin and Pelly-Ruddock Mpanzu getting late cameos.

Fleetwood themselves have had just four days rest ahead of the League one clash, having also played in the FA Cup on Monday, winning 2-1 at Guiseley, as Jones said: “Fortunately enough we were able to make 11 changes, so no-one had to go back to back.

“We’ll have the relative freshness of being able to make 11 changes, so didn’t have to play anyone that played Sunday.

"It’s only one 90 minutes they’ve had in the week between Sunday and Saturday, so we should be fresh enough on the weekend whatever 11 we play, and that’s a good thing.”

Jones also expects his side to be a much different test than they were on Wednesday when facing a team managed by former Manchester City and Newcastle midfielder Joey Barton, who are currently sitting in mid-table.

He added: “It’s a big game, Joey’s (Barton) got them playing and it will be a tough, tough game.

“We’re in good form here and we’re looking forward to it.

"We’ve come off the back of a 50/50 cup win in terms of winning Sunday where we’ve got a good draw to look forward to, but we’ve got a month now in between where we’ve got to make sure our league form continues.

“We’re in wonderful form for the last three months really, especially the last two, so we’ve got to make sure that continues.

“I believe we’ll be a different proposition on Saturday than maybe we were tonight (Wednesday), because it was a lot about giving people 90 minutes.

"But we’ve got a team on Saturday that are actually at it, so we’re looking forward to the weekend.”